Statement By Citizens Utility Board (CUB) On The Peoples/North Shore Gas Rate-Hike Request

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Jul 31, 2012, 03:12 ET

CHICAGO, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas asked for a combined rate increase of $88 million per year (about $78.3 million for Peoples and $9.7 million for North Shore).

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) will study this proposal line by line and fight every penny the companies can't justify. As their customers face a tough economy, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas—whose parent company made $267 million last year—will have a fight on their hands defending an $88 million rate increase.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) will rule on the Peoples/North Shore request after an 11-month case. These "delivery" rate hikes would increase what the companies charge to deliver gas to homes. Those charges take up about a third of a gas bill. The rest, roughly, is taken up by the price of the actual gas.

CUB is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog organization. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $10 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds over the years. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CUB's award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board